Esta tese apresenta a Notação Essencial para Mapeamento Objeto-Relacional (em inglês, ENORM), uma notação de propósito geral que representa os conceitos estruturais do Mapeamento Objeto-Relacional (MOR). O objetivo de ENORM é facilitar o projeto através da aplicação clara dos padrões MOR, documentação dos mapeamentos com uma notação independente de plataforma, e tornar-se um repositório para transformações dirigidas por modelos, geração parcial de código e ferramentas de engenharia round-trip. ENORM é uma notação baseada em perfil UML, projetada para representar padrões pertencentes a lógica de modelo do domínio, com objetos do domínio incorporando tanto comportamento como dados. A notação representa padrões adotados por frameworks MOR difundidos no mercado (Active Record, do Ruby; SQLAlchemy, do Python; Entity Framework, da Microsoft .net; JPA, Cayenne, and MyBatis, do Java), seguindo os princípios Não se repita e Convenção sobre Configuração. ENORM foi avaliado por experimentos controlados, comparando a modelagem de estudantes com modelos UML e relacionais separados, atingindo um número significativamente maior de objetivos na maioria dos cenários, sem ser significativamente diferente nos piores cenários experimentais. / This thesis presents the Essential Notation for Object-Relational Mapping (ENORM), a general purpose notation that represents structural concepts of Object- Relational Mapping (ORM). The goal of ENORM is to facilitate the design by the clear application of ORM patterns, document mappings with a platform independent notation, and became a repository for model-driven transformations, partial code generation, and round-trip engineering tools. ENORM is a UML profile based notation, designed to represent patterns within a domain modeling logic, with objects of the domain incorporating both behavior and data. The notation represents patterns adopted by widespread ORM frameworks in the market (Active Record, of Ruby; SQLAlchemy, of Python; Entity Framework, of Microsoft .net; JPA, Cayenne, and MyBatis, of Java), following the Don´t Repeat Yourself and Convention over Configuration principles. ENORM was evaluated by controlled experiments, comparing the modeling by students with the use of separated UML and relational models, achieving significantly more goals in the majority of the scenarios, without being significantly different in the worst experimental scenarios.

Les systèmes informatiques sont des systèmes de plus en plus complexes, répartis sur plusieurs niveaux d’infrastructures des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC). Ces systèmes sont parfois appelés des systèmes répartis multiéchelles. Le terme « multiéchelle » peut qualifier des systèmes répartis extrêmement variés suivant les points de vue dans lesquels ils sont caractérisés, comme la dispersion géographique des entités, la nature des équipements qui les hébergent, les réseaux sur lesquels elles sont déployées, ou encore l’organisation des utilisateurs. Pour une entité d’un système multiéchelle, les technologies de communication, les propriétés non fonctionnelles (en termes de persistance ou de sécurité), ou les architectures à favoriser, varient suivant la caractérisation multiéchelle pertinente définie ainsi que l’échelle à laquelle est associée l’entité. De plus, des architectures ad hoc de tels systèmes complexes sont coûteuses et peu durables. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un framework de caractérisation multiéchelle, appelé MuSCa. Ce framework inclut un processus de caractérisation fondé sur les concepts de points de vue, dimensions et échelles, permettant de mettre en avant, pour chaque système complexe étudié, ses caractéristiques multiéchelles. Ces concepts constituent le cœur d’un métamodèle dédié. Le framework que nous proposons permet aux concepteurs de systèmes répartis multiéchelles de partager une taxonomie pour qualifier chaque système. Le résultat d’une caractérisation est un modèle à partir duquel le framework produit des artefacts logiciels qui apportent, à l’exécution, la conscience des échelles aux entités du système / Computer systems are becoming more and more complex. Most of them are distributed over several levels of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures. These systems are sometimes referred to as multiscale systems. The word “multiscale” may qualify extremely various distributed systems according to the viewpoints in which they are characterized, such as the geographic dispersion of the entities, the nature of the hosting devices, the networks they are deployed on, or the users’ organization. For one entity of a multiscale system, communication technologies, non-functional properties (in terms of persistence or security) or architectures to be favored may vary depending on the relevant multiscale characterization defined for the system and on the scale associated to the entity. Moreover, ad hoc architectures of such complex systems are costly and non-sustainable. In this doctoral thesis, we propose a multiscale characterization framework, called MuSCa. The framework includes a characterization process based on the concepts of viewpoints, dimensions and scales, which enables to put to the fore the multiscale characteristics of each studied system. These concepts constitute the core of a dedicated metamodel. The proposed framework allows multiscale distributed systems designers to share a taxonomy for qualifying each system. The result of a characterization is a model from which the framework produces software artifacts that provide scale-awareness to the system’s entities at runtime

Les systèmes embarqués, y compris les dispositifs, l’intergiciel et le logiciel pour la création de sous-systèmes intelligents capables de gérer le contrôle d’appareils électroniques, font de plus en plus partie de nos vies quotidiennes : ils sont intégrés dans des infrastructures de base, (par exemple dans la gestion des routes et des chemins de fer) et sont désormais utilisés en tant que technologies-clés par des millions d'applications logicielles chaque jour. En outre, l'évolution rapide et continue des systèmes embarqués modernes a provoqué de nouveaux défis. Par exemple, la conception des processus complexes qui causent des retards dans le temps de commercialisation et la conséquente augmentation des coûts globaux. Ces systèmes sont plus enclins aux erreurs et par conséquence il devient prioritaire de fournir aux concepteurs des outils effectifs et efficaces pour les aider à surmonter les difficultés liées à la conception des systèmes globales, pour la vérification et pour la validation. Cette thèse est la définition et le développement d'une méthodologie de modélisation basée sur le profil de MARTE et sur le profil de SysML dans un contexte avionique, et orientée à la réutilisation des composantes logicielles et à leur vérification. Cette thèse vise à discuter et illustrer aussi l'efficacité d’une stratégie basée sur la combinaison d’UML, MARTE (Modeling and Analysis of Real Type and Embedded Systems) et des langages SysML sur des étapes différentes de la modélisation d'un système embarqué / Embedded Systems, including devices, middleware and software for the creation of intelligent sub-systems able of monitoring and controlling appliances, are more and more part of our world everyday lives; they are included in the basic infrastructure of society such as roads and railways and are key technologies used by millions of people every day. Moreover the continuous rapid evolution of modern embedded systems has given rise to new challenges: such as increasingly complex design processes that cause delays in time to market and cause escalation of overall design costs. Additionally, these systems are more prone to containing errors, and it becomes more relevant to provide designers with effective tools to aid them in overcoming the difficulties related to the overall system design, verification and validation. This thesis contributes to the definition and to the development of a model based methodology grounded on the OMG’s MARTE profile (Modeling and Analysis of Real Type and Embedded Systems) and on SysML profile to model requirements targeting an avionic case study, with a particular attention to the reuse of the modelled components and to the benefits of their verification. This thesis aims at discussing and illustrating the effectiveness of using a combination of UML, MARTE and SysML languages at the different steps of the embedded system modelling efforts and to provide within this thesis a set of methodological guidelines/steps and an approach to create design model, stores and verify them

In the last decade, the Web 2.0 brought technological changes in the manner of interaction and communication between users and applications, and among applications as well. Rich Internet Applications (RIA) offer user interfaces with a higher level of interactivity, similar to desktop interfaces, embed multimedia contents and minimise the communication between client and server components. Nonetheless, RIAs behave as black boxes that show the information in a user-friendly manner but this information can be only visualised gradually, according to the events triggered by the users on the Web browser, which limits the access of software agents, e.g., Web searchers. In the context of the present Internet, where the value has been moved from the Web applications to the data they manage, the use of open technological solutions is a need. In this way, the Semantic Web was aimed at solving issues of semantic incompatibility among systems by means of standard techniques and technologies (from knowledge representation and sharing to trust and security), which can be the key to solving the issues detected in RIA. Although some solutions exist, they do not cover all the possible types of RIA or they are dependent on the technology chosen for the implementation of the Web application. As a first contribution, this thesis introduces the concept of Semantic Rich Internet Application (SRIA), which can be defined as a RIA that extensively uses Semantic Web technologies to provide a representation of its contents and to reuse existing knowledge sources on the Web. The solution proposed is adapted to the existing RIA types and technologies. The thesis presents the architecture proposed for this type of application, describing its software modules and components. The evaluation of the solution was performed based on a collection of case studies. The development of Web applications, especially in the context of the Semantic Web, is a process traditionally performed manually and, given the complexity of the SRIA applications in this case, it is a process which might be prone to errors. The application of model-driven engineering techniques can reduce the cost of development and maintenance (in terms of time and resources) of the proposed applications, as demonstrated their use in other types of Web applications. Moreover, they can facilitate the adoption of the solution by the community. In the light of these issues, as a second contribution, this thesis presents the Sm4RIA methodology (Semantic Models for RIA) for the development of SRIA, as an extension of the OOH4RIA methodology. The thesis describes the development process, the models (with the corresponding metamodels) and the transformations included in the methodology. The evaluation of the methodology consisted in the development of the case studies proposed. The application of this model-driven methodology can speed up the development of these Web applications and simplify the reuse of external sources of knowledge. Finally, the thesis describes the Sm4RIA extension for OIDE, i.e., an extension of the OIDE CASE tool that implements all the elements of the Sm4RIA methodology.

<p>The purpose of this thesis was to investigate different concepts and tools which could support the development of a middleware which persists a temporal and versioned relational data model in an enterprise environment. Further requirements for the target application was that changes to the data model had to be facilitated, so that a small change to the model would not result in changes in several files and application layers. Other requirements include permissioning and audit tracing. In the thesis the reader is presented with a comparison of a set of tools for enterprise development and object/relational mapping. One of the tools, a code generator, is chosen as a good candidate to match the requirements of the project. An implementation is presented, where the chosen tool is used. An XML-based language which is used to define a data model and to provide input data for the tool is presented. Other concepts concerning the implementation is then described in detail. Finally, the author discusses alternative solutions and future improvements.</p>

<p>Executable and Translatable UML (xtUML) is the next abstraction level in software development, where both programming language and software architecture have been abstracted away. xtUML is a well defined UML profile, extended with precise action semantics. This allows the developers to define a problem area, domain, in such a detail that it can be executed. By defining the system with xtUML-models, domains, the system functionality can be verified early in the development process. Translation to code can be done in different ways and this work will be performed in an environment where code is automatically generated with a model compiler.</p><p>The goal with a domain is that it should be independent of other domains, reused without modification and exchanged with another domain solving the same problem. However a domain can make assumptions that certain functionality is available and these assumptions are requirements for another domain.</p><p>To fulfil these goals there must be a minimal coupling between the domains. This can be solved with the technique Implicit Bridging, where the bridge dependency between domains is defined in a bridge. The dependency is in the form of mappings/coupling between elements in both domains. By defining a bridge interface for a server domain a client domain can use the resources offered by the server domain.</p><p>The work performed shows how an implementation of Implicit Bridging could be realized by applying the technique in a microwave oven system. From the system design five different mapping types have been implemented. The applicability and the quality of the implementation have been verified by testing the generated system functionality and also verifying the goals, exchangeability and reuse of domains, of the system.</p>

Nowadays, model-driven engineering (MDE) promises to ease software development by decreasing the inherent complexity of classical software development. In order to deliver on this promise, MDE increases the level of abstraction and automation, through a consideration of domain-specific models (DSMs) and model operations (e.g. model transformations or code generations). DSMs conform to domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs), which increase the level of abstraction, and model operations are first-class entities of software development because they increase the level of automation. Nevertheless, MDE has to deal with at least two new dimensions of complexity, which are basically caused by the increased linguistic and technological heterogeneity. The first dimension of complexity is setting up an MDE environment, an activity comprised of the implementation or selection of DSMLs and model operations. Setting up an MDE environment is both time-consuming and error-prone because of the implementation or adaptation of model operations. The second dimension of complexity is concerned with applying MDE for actual software development. Applying MDE is challenging because a collection of DSMs, which conform to potentially heterogeneous DSMLs, are required to completely specify a complex software system. A single DSML can only be used to describe a specific aspect of a software system at a certain level of abstraction and from a certain perspective. Additionally, DSMs are usually not independent but instead have inherent interdependencies, reflecting (partial) similar aspects of a software system at different levels of abstraction or from different perspectives. A subset of these dependencies are applications of various model operations, which are necessary to keep the degree of automation high. This becomes even worse when addressing the first dimension of complexity. Due to continuous changes, all kinds of dependencies, including the applications of model operations, must also be managed continuously. This comprises maintaining the existence of these dependencies and the appropriate (re-)application of model operations. The contribution of this thesis is an approach that combines traceability and model management to address the aforementioned challenges of configuring and applying MDE for software development. The approach is considered as a traceability approach because it supports capturing and automatically maintaining dependencies between DSMs. The approach is considered as a model management approach because it supports managing the automated (re-)application of heterogeneous model operations. In addition, the approach is considered as a comprehensive model management. Since the decomposition of model operations is encouraged to alleviate the first dimension of complexity, the subsequent composition of model operations is required to counteract their fragmentation. A significant portion of this thesis concerns itself with providing a method for the specification of decoupled yet still highly cohesive complex compositions of heterogeneous model operations. The approach supports two different kinds of compositions - data-flow compositions and context compositions. Data-flow composition is used to define a network of heterogeneous model operations coupled by sharing input and output DSMs alone. Context composition is related to a concept used in declarative model transformation approaches to compose individual model transformation rules (units) at any level of detail. In this thesis, context composition provides the ability to use a collection of dependencies as context for the composition of other dependencies, including model operations. In addition, the actual implementation of model operations, which are going to be composed, do not need to implement any composition concerns. The approach is realized by means of a formalism called an executable and dynamic hierarchical megamodel, based on the original idea of megamodels. This formalism supports specifying compositions of dependencies (traceability and model operations). On top of this formalism, traceability is realized by means of a localization concept, and model management by means of an execution concept. / Die modellgetriebene Softwareentwicklung (MDE) verspricht heutzutage, durch das Verringern der inhärenten Komplexität der klassischen Softwareentwicklung, das Entwickeln von Software zu vereinfachen. Um dies zu erreichen, erhöht MDE das Abstraktions- und Automationsniveau durch die Einbindung domänenspezifischer Modelle (DSMs) und Modelloperationen (z.B. Modelltransformationen oder Codegenerierungen). DSMs sind konform zu domänenspezifischen Modellierungssprachen (DSMLs), die dazu dienen das Abstraktionsniveau der Softwareentwicklung zu erhöhen. Modelloperationen sind essentiell für die Softwareentwicklung da diese den Grad der Automatisierung erhöhen. Dennoch muss MDE mit Komplexitätsdimensionen umgehen die sich grundsätzlich aus der erhöhten sprachlichen und technologischen Heterogenität ergeben. Die erste Komplexitätsdimension ist das Konfigurieren einer Umgebung für MDE. Diese Aktivität setzt sich aus der Implementierung und Selektion von DSMLs sowie Modelloperationen zusammen. Eine solche Aktivität ist gerade durch die Implementierung und Anpassung von Modelloperationen zeitintensiv sowie fehleranfällig. Die zweite Komplexitätsdimension hängt mit der Anwendung von MDE für die eigentliche Softwareentwicklung zusammen. Das Anwenden von MDE ist eine Herausforderung weil eine Menge von heterogenen DSMs, die unterschiedlichen DSMLs unterliegen, erforderlich sind um ein komplexes Softwaresystem zu spezifizieren. Individuelle DSMLs werden verwendet um spezifische Aspekte eines Softwaresystems auf bestimmten Abstraktionsniveaus und aus bestimmten Perspektiven zu beschreiben. Hinzu kommt, dass DSMs sowie DSMLs grundsätzlich nicht unabhängig sind, sondern inhärente Abhängigkeiten besitzen. Diese Abhängigkeiten reflektieren äquivalente Aspekte eines Softwaresystems. Eine Teilmenge dieser Abhängigkeiten reflektieren Anwendungen diverser Modelloperationen, die notwendig sind um den Grad der Automatisierung hoch zu halten. Dies wird erschwert wenn man die erste Komplexitätsdimension hinzuzieht. Aufgrund kontinuierlicher Änderungen der DSMs, müssen alle Arten von Abhängigkeiten, inklusive die Anwendung von Modelloperationen, kontinuierlich verwaltet werden. Dies beinhaltet die Wartung dieser Abhängigkeiten und das sachgerechte (wiederholte) Anwenden von Modelloperationen. Der Beitrag dieser Arbeit ist ein Ansatz, der die Bereiche Traceability und Model Management vereint. Das Erfassen und die automatische Verwaltung von Abhängigkeiten zwischen DSMs unterstützt Traceability, während das (automatische) wiederholte Anwenden von heterogenen Modelloperationen Model Management ermöglicht. Dadurch werden die zuvor erwähnten Herausforderungen der Konfiguration und Anwendung von MDE überwunden. Die negativen Auswirkungen der ersten Komplexitätsdimension können gelindert werden indem Modelloperationen in atomare Einheiten zerlegt werden. Um der implizierten Fragmentierung entgegenzuwirken, erfordert dies allerdings eine nachfolgende Komposition der Modelloperationen. Der Ansatz wird als erweitertes Model Management betrachtet, da ein signifikanter Anteil dieser Arbeit die Kompositionen von heterogenen Modelloperationen behandelt. Unterstützt werden zwei unterschiedliche Arten von Kompositionen. Datenfluss-Kompositionen werden verwendet, um Netzwerke von heterogenen Modelloperationen zu beschreiben, die nur durch das Teilen von Ein- und Ausgabe DSMs komponiert werden. Kontext-Kompositionen bedienen sich eines Konzepts, das von deklarativen Modelltransformationen bekannt ist. Dies ermöglicht die Komposition von unabhängigen Transformationsregeln auf unterschiedlichsten Detailebenen. Die in dieser Arbeit eingeführten Kontext-Kompositionen bieten die Möglichkeit eine Menge von unterschiedlichsten Abhängigkeiten als Kontext für eine Komposition zu verwenden -- unabhängig davon ob diese Abhängigkeit eine Modelloperation repräsentiert. Zusätzlich müssen die Modelloperationen, die komponiert werden, selber keine Kompositionsaspekte implementieren, was deren Wiederverwendbarkeit erhöht. Realisiert wird dieser Ansatz durch einen Formalismus der Executable and Dynamic Hierarchical Megamodel genannt wird und auf der originalen Idee der Megamodelle basiert. Auf Basis dieses Formalismus' sind die Konzepte Traceability (hier Localization) und Model Management (hier Execution) umgesetzt.

La especificación Model Driven Architecture (MDA), es una especialización del desarrollo dirigido por modelos que separa la lógica del negocio del software y las plataformas tecnológicas. Para ello MDA define tres tipos de modelos. Los CIM, Computation Independent Model, asociados al dominio del negocio, los PIM, Platform Independent Model, asociados a modelos abstractos del software, y los PSM, Platform Specific Model, relacionados con modelos de software específicos de plataformas tecnológicas. Sin embargo MDA no detalla cómo deben ser los modelos CIM y tampoco describe cómo deben ser transformados a modelos PIM. Como solución a dicho problema, esta tesis presenta una recomendación que propone un proceso de desarrollo de software basado en la creación de modelos de procesos del negocio, clasificados como CIM, que son asociados a los modelos iniciales del software, considerados PIM. Partiendo de una interpretación válida de MDA, la recomendación propuesta se apoya además en la aplicación de otras disciplinas de gran actualidad. Entre ellas destacamos el uso de desarrollo ágil de software, para la definición adecuada de los procesos del negocio.

We tackle the problem of automated code generation for a High Level Architecture (HLA)- compliant federate application, given a model of the federation architecture including the federate&rsquo / s behavior model. The behavior model is based on Live Sequence Charts (LSCs), adopted as the behavioral specification formalism in the Federation Architecture Metamodel (FAMM). The FAMM is constructed conforming to metaGME, the meta-metamodel offered by Generic Modeling Environment (GME). FAMM serves as a formal language for describing federation architectures. We present a code generator that generates Java/AspectJ code directly from a federation architecture model. An objective is to help verify a federation architecture by testing it early in the development lifecycle. Another objective is to help developers construct complete federate applications. Our approach to achieve these objectives is aspect-oriented in that the code generated from the LSC in conjunction with the Federation Object Model (FOM) serves as the base code on which the computation logic is weaved as an aspect.

Interaktive System sind dynamische Systeme mit einem zumeist informationellen Kern, die über eine Benutzungsschnittstelle von einem oder mehreren Benutzern bedient werden können. Grundlage für die Benutzung interaktiver Systeme ist das Verständnis von Zweck und Funktionsweise. Allein aus Form und Gestalt der Benutzungsschnittstelle ergibt sich ein solches Verständnis nur in einfachen Fällen. Mit steigender Komplexität ist daher eine verständliche Beschreibung solcher Systeme für deren Entwicklung und Benutzung unverzichtbar. <br><br> Abhängig von ihrem Zweck variieren die Formen vorgefundener Beschreibungen in der Literatur sehr stark. Ausschlaggebend für die Verständlichkeit einer Beschreibung ist jedoch primär die ihr zugrundeliegende Begriffswelt. Zur Beschreibung allgemeiner komplexer diskreter Systeme - aufbauend auf einer getrennten Betrachtung von Aufbau-, Ablauf- und Wertestrukturen - existiert eine bewährte Begriffswelt. Eine Spezialisierung dieser Begriffs- und Vorstellungswelt, die den unterschiedlichen Betrachtungsebenen interaktiver Systeme gerecht wird und die als Grundlage beliebiger Beschreibungsansätze interaktiver Systeme dienen kann, gibt es bisher nicht. <br><br> Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Bereitstellung einer solchen Begriffswelt zur effizienten Kommunikation der Strukturen interaktiver Systeme. Dadurch soll die Grundlage für eine sinnvolle Ergänzung bestehender Beschreibungs- und Entwicklungsansätze geschaffen werden. Prinzipien der Gestaltung von Benutzungsschnittstellen, Usability- oder Ergonomiebetrachtungen stehen nicht im Mittelpunkt der Arbeit. <br><br> Ausgehend von der informationellen Komponente einer Benutzungsschnittstelle werden drei Modellebenen abgegrenzt, die bei der Betrachtung eines interaktiven Systems zu unterscheiden sind. Jede Modellebene ist durch eine typische Begriffswelt gekennzeichnet, die ihren Ursprung in einer aufbauverwurzelten Vorstellung hat. Der durchgängige Bezug auf eine Systemvorstellung unterscheidet diesen Ansatz von dem bereits bekannten Konzept der Abgrenzung unterschiedlicher Ebenen verschiedenartiger Entwurfsentscheidungen. Die Fundamental Modeling Concepts (FMC) bilden dabei die Grundlage für die Findung und die Darstellung von Systemstrukturen. <br><br> Anhand bestehender Systembeschreibungen wird gezeigt, wie die vorgestellte Begriffswelt zur Modellfindung genutzt werden kann. Dazu wird eine repräsentative Auswahl vorgefundener Systembeschreibungen aus der einschlägigen Literatur daraufhin untersucht, in welchem Umfang durch sie die Vorstellungswelt dynamischer Systeme zum Ausdruck kommt. Defizite in der ursprünglichen Darstellung werden identifiziert. Anhand von Alternativmodellen zu den betrachteten Systemen wird der Nutzen der vorgestellten Begriffswelt und Darstellungsweise demonstriert. / Interactive systems are dynamic systems which provide services to one or more users via a user interface. Many of these systems have an information processing core. To effectively use such a system, a user needs to know about the purpose and functional concepts of the system. Only in case of a rather simple functionality, the required knowledge is likely to be obtained by mere exploration of the user interface. For complex systems, a comprehensive description is essential for effective and efficient operation, but also for system development. Especially in the context of this publication, the focus is on the diagrams that are used for communication in the development process of interactive systems.<br><br> With regard to its purpose these descriptions vary in form and notation. In any case, it is the underlying terminology which is crucial to the understandability. Established concepts and notations for the description of generic information processing systems promote a strict separation of three categories of system structures: Compositional structures, behavioral structures and value-range structures.<br><br> This publication suggests a specialization of this approach for the description of interactive systems. The definition of specific notions and semantic layers is intended to provide a complement to existing description approaches in that field that constitutes a mental framework to enhance the efficiency of communication about interactive systems. In focusing to the description aspect only, design principles, system architectures and development methods are the context but not the subject of this work.<br><br> The separation of three semantic layers provides the foundation to distinguish purpose-related, interaction-related and implementation-related models of interactive systems. Each semantic layer is characterized by a specific terminology. Referring to the idea of equivalent models, the compositional system structure varies from layer to layer and provides the framework to ask for the observable behavior and values. The strict assignment of system aspects to system components distinguishes this approach from a simple layering of design decisions in the development of interactive systems as commonly found in the relevant literature. The Fundamental Modeling Concepts (FMC) provide the foundation for the identification and representation of system structures.<br><br> A selection of system descriptions taken from the relevant literature provides the starting point to demonstrate the application of the suggested concept. Purpose, content and form of each example are analyzed with regard to the implied system structure. Weaknesses in the original representation are identified. Alternative models complement the examples to illustrate the benefit of the new approach.